yapitori:

jinxess:

yoshi12370:

lusilly:

c0oolestfreak:

lifeofafilipinopagan:

The Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Fox.

Known by it’s local names, paniki and kabog, it is the largest bat in the world being one of the megabats, with a wingspan of up to almost 6 ft, weighing to 3.3 lbs, and up to a body length of 55 cm, or 22 inches. It is often compared to the other megabat, Pteropus vampyrus (the Malayan Flying Fox), which is often mistaken as the largest bat for reports on its wingspan but is smaller in body mass and size.

This marvelous, yet endangered animal gets it’s name from its golden fur around its head which is in contrast to its dark brown to black body and wings. It has no tail like other fruit bats and is endemic to the Philippines inhabiting the uninhabited forests on the islands of Bohol, Boracay, Cebu, Leyte, Luzon, Mindanao, Mindoro, Negros and Polillo.

A primarily nocturnal creature (as are most bats), it can travel at least 25 miles (40 km) per night while searching for food – mostly figs but also regional fruits like puhutan, lamio, bankal, tangisang, bayawak and strangler figs. It is also referred to as “The Silent Planter”, as they are known to scatter the seeds of the fruit they eat in their droppings which makes them vital to the ecosystem of the Philippines’ rainforests.

Prior to the decreasing number of their species, giant golden-crowned flying-foxes were known and still known to make colonies with its cousin the Malayan Flying Foxes. These colonies were meant to help them keep warm and avoid predators such as the Philippine Eagle. However due to the colonies it became much easier to hunt for humans, for their meat and to make pelts which is one of the top reasons for their decrease of numbers in the wild. Due to their important contributions to the ecosystem it’s important that efforts are made to conserve these giant fruit bats.

Click here for a video documentary on these megabats. (in Tagalog, but you can easily follow along and see these bats in action)

IT’S LIKE A FLYING DOG

IT’S HUGE

I NEED ONE.

Oh guuuuh. Those giant bats are probably what spawned the idea of one of our local mythological creatures: The manananggal. I swear, I had maids from the province who SWEAR they’ve seen a manananggal, or that their neighbor is one. They probably just saw one of these bats.

Manananggals are women who grow bat wings at night, and their upper body rips apart from their lower body, leaving their guts exposed. Found a transformation scene of one on YouTube from what happens to be one of my favorite childhood movies XD

HUUUUUGE o A o

WAIT WAIT WAIT..”bayawak” isn’t a fruit DD: what??